Des Moines man charged with Seattle shooting, robberies

A 21-year-old Des Moines man already charged with first-degree robbery now faces additional charges after King County prosecutors filed allegations against him Wednesday for two more armed robberies and a shooting in recent months.

Most of the incidents reportedly occurred in the First Hill area.

Mohamed Abdi Ali, known as “Sharmarke,” had failed to show up for his arraignment after being charged with first-degree robbery in January and has reportedly been on the lam since as additional charges have piled up against him.

The January charges include two counts of illegal firearm possession in addition to the robbery charge. Those charges are tied to a Dec. 13 incident near 12th Avenue South and South Main Street in which a taxi driver was pistol-whipped and robbed of his phone and GPS device by a group of men.

One robbery reportedly occurred Nov. 15, when a man reported being pistol-whipped and strangled in his car near 12th Avenue South and South Main Street — the same area where the taxi driver was robbed — and carjacked by a group of men, according to court records. The victim jumped out of his vehicle while one of the attackers drove the car away and Ali reportedly sat in the back seat next to the victim. Ali was supposedly acquainted with the victim.

The shooting occurred Jan. 5 near the intersection of East Remington Court and 12th Avenue, where a man reportedly ran into Ali, who confronted him about a fight the man had the previous week with Ali’s brother. The man was shot at four to five times and struck twice. He drove himself to Harborview Medical Center. He ultimately recovered after spending a week in the hospital, according to a bail request memo.

The final robbery for which Ali is charged occurred Jan. 10 at Hashi Money Wire in the 15200 block of International Boulevard in SeaTac. A man robbed the business of about $7,000 after pointing a gun at the clerk, court documents say. Detectives linked surveillance footage of the incident to Ali.

Investigators found the vehicle in which Ali reportedly fled the robbery scene and recovered a stolen handgun from inside the car.

Ali has previous convictions of vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, assault and theft, among others.